


Close Proximity

by ThisAz1an



Series: Commonwealth Tales [2]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Slow Burn, Well - Freeform, not really - Freeform, some chapters will already have them as girlfriends, some slow burning their way into a relationship, tags will be updated as the chapters are posted
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-06-15
Packaged: 2019-09-27 18:23:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17167013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThisAz1an/pseuds/ThisAz1an
Summary: The times Piper and Blue (aka Jayd) spent together; from their first meeting to the adventures that has them razing through the Commonwealth. A combination of one-shots and some times chapters partnered together.





	1. First Impressions

Diamond City was…some _thing_. Not what she had expected from a place known as the “Great, Green Jewel,” but with how resources are limited in this post-apocalyptic world, she had to admire the way people could make a life out of the remnants of a distant past. Jayd sighed in relief at the sight of towering, brick walls. Ones that look like they could keep all the crazies of the Commonwealth out and folks safely inside. Maybe she could stay in the city for a while too, find some odd jobs here and there, follow up on some clues, and—

“So, how’d a vault dweller like you learn how to fight?”

Jayd tilted her head, to signify that she had heard her current companion’s question while she pushed a fresh clip into her pistol’s chamber with a satisfying _click_. The question didn’t come as a surprise to her. Many of the local denizens she came across had asked a similarity of questions of where she came from, how’d she learned how to shoot a gun, and so on. The travelling settlers she had just saved no doubt wondered what she had gone through in life to be so combat efficient to fight her way through a group of crazed Raiders. From the strings of information, she had gathered the only factions any local shouldn’t mess with would be the Brotherhood of Steel, a close-knit group with a military hierarchy that lived under a code of extreme prejudice towards people _of_ machines and those who use them. The other was a secretive, boogey-man like presence that loomed over the Commonwealth. Rumors say that they kidnap people with the purpose of replacing them with an android-like double. Either way, she could only hope the locals are just thankful enough she’s just a random stranger with a willing, helpful hand. If they could ignore the Pip-boy on her left arm long enough, that is.  

Jayd shrugged as she holstered her pistol. “Eventually I wanted to leave the Vault, one of the few who wanted to, anyway. I was lucky enough a group of travelers taught me the things I needed to know when I came across them on my first settlement.”

It was somewhat a lie and a truth. The lie being she didn’t grow up in a vault like most assumed, but she had no choice but to leave a _dead_ vault. The truth was she had spent half a year with Preston and the last survivors of the Minutemen; being told about the world that had been reborn from the ashes of her Pre-War world, known factions, the dangers and risks she might meet while travelling the Commonwealth, and other things.

“You know, if I didn’t know any better, you’d looked like a seasoned merc, is all,” Brandon, a tough settler and the ring leader of his group, said. “Though, that machinery on your arm ruins the illusion entirely.”

Jayd let out an amused scoff as they were lead through the makeshift wooden gate separating the courtyard of the city from the alleyway. The baseball outfitted guards had seen their group approach earlier, asked a couple of questions, before being allowed to pass through once their answers were satisfactory. A few of the guards were leading the front of the group while she and Brandon followed from the rear. They rounded the corner and Jayd noted the rusted, green mechanical door closed and with only a simple intercom to connect to someone on the other side. There was a collective chorus of relieved sighs and cheers as one of the guards approached the intercom and radioed someone to open the gates.

_“Hey Danny, open the gates. We got some new arrivals.”_

A moment later, a voice responded. _“Roger that, Cap’.”_

A combination of mechanical whirrs and clicks before the green metal door was slowly lifted upward, the gears creaking along the way. Jayd and Brandon all stood to the side and let the rest of the group head on in first and be greeted by another squad of umpire-dressed guards. However, a flash of red leather caught her eye and glanced at the tail end of the walking settlers.

The woman walking nonchalantly behind the group wore a red leather trench coat, topped with a rugged press cap that had seen a lot of trouble, and a green scarf wound snugly around a toned but lean neck. Unlike the rest of the group, this young woman looked almost as clean as a whistle; obvious signs that she hadn’t exactly walked the miles as they did. Maybe she was a local to the city? Who knows, really. Brushing it off as paranoia, Jayd trailed behind Brandon as the settlers all milled about the lobby as an elderly man—possibly in his early fifties—greeting them jovially. Still keeping her distance, Jayd leaned her side against one of the metal columns, half-listening to the speech as she crossed her arms against her chest.

“Welcome, folks! Welcome to the ‘Great, Green Jewel’ of the Commonwealth,” he beamed, raising his outstretched arms. “My name’s Mayor McDonough and I am honored to welcome you in our city.”

The settlers all smiled and made sounds of agreement. At this moment, Brandon stepped out beside the group and introduced himself.

“Brandon Green. Pleasure to meet you, Mayor McDonough. My group and I will only be staying here temporarily before we get a move on.”

“Ah, well, Diamond City has plenty of shops for all the necessities you need for your travels, friend,” McDonough said.

“We’ll be sure to visit em’,” Brandon beamed a smile.

Jayd smirked, before raising her left arm, and opening the map on her Pip-Boy. The settlement Brandon and his group were previously living in was in a bad position. Sure, being on the top of the hill gives you the advantage of spotting enemies, but it also leaves the settlers at a disadvantage of an escape when the hillside was steep. Jayd was willing to help relocate them to a safer and more secure location once the group had recovered from their ordeal. She already had a few places in mind that she could scout and ensure it was all clear for others to move in.

Once the greetings were exchanged, the guards all escorted them through the gates leading into the city. Brandon hung back, looking around for her, before spotting her still standing near the entrance. He tilted his head toward the gates, a wordless motion of: “You comin’ along?”

Jayd replied with a small smile and a casual wave of the hand: “Later.”

A nod in reply and Brandon followed his fellow settlers, no doubt to lead them to an inn, and make sure none of them would get in trouble with the city folks.

_“_ Piper _, who let you back inside!? I told Sullivan to keep you out!”_

The angry tone immediately caught Jayd’s attention, her hand instinctively propping itself onto the handle of her pistol holstered by her hip as she followed the mayor’s gaze. It didn’t surprise her one bit that his scowl was directed toward the trench coat clad woman that she had spotted moments ago. The woman had halted in her steps, though the settlers were unaffected by it as they were in deep conversations with one another. They continued their merry way, descending the metal steps further into Diamond City.

This left Jayd as witness to the verbal confrontation between the mayor and the woman called ‘Piper.’

The mayor continued his angry tirade as he directed a furious fist toward Piper. “You _devious_ , rabble-rousing slanderer! The level of dishonesty in that paper of yours—”

“Ooh, that a statement, McDonough?” Piper drawled back as she rounded on him. Hazel-green eyes ablaze with a challenge. “ _‘Tyrant Mayor Shuts Down the Press!’_ ”

Each word of that headline was mockingly punctuated with a fingerless, gloved hand gesture reading it out in mid-air between her and the mayor. A small smirk tugged at the corner of Jayd’s lips. This woman was fearless, unafraid in the face of authority, and had plenty of sarcasm to back it up. The very first person she had seen who didn’t seem to cower from anything. Sure, some of the settlers she had met were brave enough bunch, but no doubt this woman had been through the fire and back.

_Sounds_ exactly _like a reporter,_ Jayd thought. _Didn’t think they’d survive two hundred years after the fallout._

Who would believe there’d still be a newspaper company living and existing in this post-apocalyptic world anyway? This further piqued Jayd’s curiosity toward the red-trench clad woman as she leaned back against the metal pillar. 

The verbal confrontation was becoming heated. The mayor and Piper were literally pointing and jabbing fingers at each other, with an extra flair of flailing their arms here and there. From an outsider’s perspective, one would think they were about to start throwing punches if it weren’t for the gaggle of guards who had similar exasperated expressions on their faces. It seems like this was an old song and dance between the reporter and the mayor. Jayd wondered how many times the reporter crossed paths with the mayor of the very city she lived in. _Why_ was there such a hostility between the two?

_Then again, politicians aren’t the biggest fans of reporters to begin with,_ Jayd recalled amusingly. Two hundred years of fallout and the old song and dance lived on.

_“Why don’t we ask the newcomer?”_

At the word, Jayd snapped back into reality as she realized both the mayor and Piper were looking _at_ her. It gave her the impression of two teachers expecting an answer from a student who’d made it obvious they weren’t paying attention to the class.

 “You support the news?” The reporter asked. “Because the mayor’s threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster.”

 Jayd was hesitant, at first. In the end, she shrugged one shoulder. “Freedom of speech is important. It’s one of the many ways people get their opinions across. Anyone has a right to their opinion.”

With her garnered support, Piper rounded on the mayor once more and restarted her argument on how important the press was to the public. Mayor responded in equal kind of vehemence on how her papers was just ensuing ‘paranoia.’ The argument was going nowhere, and McDonough decided to relent.

“I’ve had enough of this, Piper! Consider you and that sister of yours on _notice,_ ” he warned as he walked away from the reporter.

Piper didn’t seem at all frightened by his threat. “Yeah, keep talkin’, McDonough! That’s all you’re ever good for.”

The elderly mayor let out a grumbled _harrumph_ before walking through the metal fence gates and slamming it behind him. Once he was out of earshot, Piper turned to her with a grateful smile.

“Thanks for the support there. Too few folks care about the truth these days.”

Jayd nodded. She would have preferred to not have gotten involved, but then again, she was the one who stuck around. “Not a lot of fans to your newspaper, huh?”

“Ohh, boy, tell me about it,” Piper sighed. “Anyways, name’s Piper Wright. Founder and reporter of the Publick Occurrences.”

Jayd pushed away from the metal pillar and approached the other woman. At a closer perspective, Piper was not that much older nor younger than her. It wouldn’t come off as a surprise if they were close in age.

She extended a hand to Piper. “Jayd Connors. I’m—” a vault dweller? A mercenary? Honestly, Jayd didn’t know _what_ she would be considered as in this radiated world. “—I guess you can say, a traveler of sorts.”  

Piper grasped her hand and gave it a gentle shook. “A traveler, huh? Do you guys normally come with a Pip-boy?”

Jayd let out a short laugh. Right, Preston told her vault dwellers are kind of seen as people of a different kind. A community of people who live in vaults and rarely come out to the open world, other than to trade with traveling caravans here and there. To most, they were the descendants of the pre-war world, the ones who would know a thing or two of how the world was before the bombs were dropped.

_Ah, she knows._

“Yeah, can’t really hide this clunky thing,” Jayd wiggled her left arm for emphasis. “Doesn’t help that it sticks out like a sore thumb.”

“Well, seeing as you’re still alive and it’s still on your arm,” Piper drawled. “No one’s been lucky enough to take it from you.”

“Let’s hope they remain unlucky then.”

The pair shared a laugh and it took Jayd by surprise. How long has it been since she had a genuine laugh? Sure, she stuck around with Brandon and his group for a while. Though, she had spent the better half of the time being their bodyguard. When she was tasked to protect, the instincts of a soldier engraved into her rose from its slumber, and she focused on nothing else but keeping her charges safe.

“How long do you think you guys will stay here?” A change of subject, which Jayd was thankful for.

“Who knows? A week or so?” It was an educated guess. “Hard to say when they’ll to find a new place and settle. I’ll be sticking around to ensure their protection. Once things have calmed down, I’ll be on my way.”

Realization dawned in those green-hazel eyes. “Oh! I thought you were with them, ah, you know, permanently.”

Jayd smirked, shrugging one shoulder. “They didn’t pay me to stay with them. I just wanted to help them out.”

Piper smiled and propped her hands on her hips. “Well, well, a selfless vault dweller. Are more of you going to be springing up soon?”

A slight tug pulled at her heart at the thought. She wished there was more of them, more of “vault dwellers” from where she came from. But, that would be impossible. “We’ll see. I struck out on my own.”

The reporter didn’t respond this time, though the expression on her face says she was mulling on the next words to say. She twiddled with her fingers, before raising her gaze to meet with her’s. “Listen, I gotta go. Paper to write and all, but…think you can stop by my office when you get the chance? I think I’ve got a story you’d be perfect for.”

Jayd tilted her head. She doesn’t know much about Piper’s newspaper, be it reported news like in the old days, or it kept the readers informed about the dangers in the Commonwealth. Maybe she did some opinion pieces every now and then, an interview from a person of interest. Either way, it wouldn’t hurt to answer the reporter’s questions and let her get a story.

“Sure,” Jayd said. “I’ll see you around then?”

Piper smiled and tipped her press cap slightly. “Welcome to Diamond City, Blue.”


	2. What a Day - 1

Piper Wright. Yep, that’s her name. An infamous one within the walls of Diamond City, along with a reputation to back it up. Some locals, the mayor himself, and much of the city’s security force didn’t look too kindly toward her “snooping” in places she didn’t belong. However, people these days needed a hard look at the truth.

Piper would deliver - all in paper and ink.

 _Yeah,_ she thought proudly. _You survived being poisoned, became an honorary acolyte of a crazy cult to save your skull, and—_

“—and you’re stalling, Sis.”

Piper’s shoulders sagged, as her pride deflated when she turned to face the knowing look on her little sister’s face.

“I’m not stalling—"

“—yes, you are.”

“I’m not,” Piper retorted, raising a hand to stop any more of the younger Wright’s sass. “I’m just...thinking.”

“What’s there to think about?” Nat asked as if it was the simplest question. “She’s right there.”

Both sisters turned their sights on the slumped, hooded figure whose head was lying on top of the table next to the Power Noodles’ stand. No doubt this person was nursing quite the hangover and they had barely moved or even flinched. One would almost assume they were dead if it wasn’t for the subtle fall and rise of their back. There was a Pip-Boy clamped on their left wrist and Piper knew this was Blue, having survived another night of drinking. From what Nat told her, the vault dweller had barely flinched when she stepped back inside the office to print some more copies of her current issue. The hangover probably sucked all the willpower out of her from grabbing a hot bowl of noodles and recover some sense of humanity.

“Uncle Nick said we should keep her busy, so you know, she doesn’t do anything reckless,” Nat said.

Piper sighed softly and pinched the bridge of her nose. Little sis’ was right since for the past couple of weeks, Blue has been stuck in a devastated state. Ever since her trek to Fort Hagen with Nick, her friend wanted nothing more than to feel numb. One of the solutions Blue turned to was drinking her weight in alcohol. It almost worked too, especially during the first, few nights. Eventually, Piper had to step in and intervene before the vault dweller drowned into the bottom of a whiskey bottle. Afterward, Blue learned to moderate her intakes from then on and found other ways to keep herself distracted. Whether it was cleaning her armory of guns several times over or helping Nick with a couple of cases.

Although, it seems like Blue found some closure into the bottom of a mug again last night.

“I know, but come on, look at her,” Piper waved a hand toward Blue. “She’s a wreck right now, Nat. The last thing she needs is an interview about her past.”

Nat shook her head. “Either we find some way to get her back on her feet or she’ll go off and find some trouble.”

It was another good point coming from the youngest Wright. However, Piper still felt hesitant as she twiddled with the tips of her fingers. Did she really need to question Blue, especially today? The interview could wait another day. She may be nosy and pushy, but she knew when not to step on a melancholy bomb. Then again, maybe the questions Piper had in store would reignite something inside her friend, to give her another boost into staying a decent person in this radiated world.

Right?

 _Okay,_ Piper sucked it up. _This may or may not help Blue, but it was better than doing nothing._

“Alright,” the reporter nodded to her little sister. “Hold down the fort until I get back.”

Victorious, Nat beamed a smile at her and gave a thumbs-up. “Roger that.”

With that done, Piper left the front stands of the Publick Occurrences in her little sister’s capable hands. She went and approached the still slumped figure of her vault dweller. She had barely moved throughout her conversation with Nat and it made the reporter feel concerned.

 _Just how much did you drink last night, Blue?_   Piper thought, as she grabbed one of the spare chairs and seated herself beside the other woman. Piper waited a spell, to wait and give her friend a moment to recollect herself. Blue had yet to respond nor give a sign that she acknowledged someone was near her. This was surprising since it always seemed like Blue knew when someone nearby.

In the end, Piper had to say something.

“Hey, Blue.”

The vault dweller flinched slightly, then let out a soft groan, before she seated herself upright. In one slow, sluggish motion, Blue grabbed her hoodie and removed her cowl. Instantly, Piper’s jaw dropped. When she had first met Blue, her hair was slightly long enough to be tied into a short ponytail. It grew inch by inch throughout the past couple of months and Blue kept it maintained as best as she could. It was a total surprise that she now stared at the same woman with a slightly new look. Either side of her scalp were shaved to a buzzcut and the rest cropped short. It gave her a bit of a rogue-ish look and accentuated the handsome features. Despite her friend’s disheveled state, Blue was still better looking than most in the Commonwealth and it wasn’t because she was someone new, unfamiliar, and...exhilarating.

Piper mentally slapped herself to focus. Now was not the time to be ogling.

“Oh, heh, wow. New do, Blue?”

Sarcasm and jokes always cut the tension in the air. It worked like a charm as stormy-blue eyes groggily stared at her, squinting at her with equal suspicion and amusement.

“It’s too early in the morning for rhymes, Pipes,” Blue drawled.

Regardless, the reporter didn’t stop there. “It’s almost noon, but what else is new, Blue?”

A soft scoff and then followed by another groan. Blue rubbed either sides of her temples gingerly.

“Must be quite the hangover you’re nursing there,” Piper stated, giving a small smile for reassurance.

“You’ve no idea,” Blue sighed, softly. “I didn’t make the smartest of choices taking a sample shot of Vadim’s new moonshine.”

Piper winced. She still remembered that one night how she practically chugged from Vadim’s distill to force the poison out of her. Ever since that incident, Piper always made sure it was only Vadim serving by the bar if she ever wanted a couple of drinks. Blue was probably feeling similar after effects that she had experienced personally after gaining consciousness. Hangovers were never fun, especially after having a couple of “Bobrov’s Best.”

“Well, how about I talk up ol’ Takahashi over there and see if he can whip up his hangover special, eh?”

Jayd nodded before slowly standing up from her seat. “I’ll go see if Nat wants some lunch, as well.”

Piper felt a flutter of warmth in her heart. It took some time for Nat to warm up to Blue in the beginning, but the youngest Wright eventually turned around once she figured the vault dweller bore no ill-intention toward her big sister. “Thanks, Blue. I’m sure she’d love some.”   

Once the food was served up, Nat sat in between Jayd and Piper, happily slurping her own bowl of noodles and washing it down with a bottle of Nuka Cherry. The vault dweller ate a more moderate pace and taking sips from her cup of joe in between. Piper just enjoyed the rare moment of peace. Her life as an investigative journalist was…hectic, dangerous at most. She always followed the latest scoop that could bring some hope into this radiated world or warn any traveler of the dangers ahead. However, the very same world was generous enough to spring up someone as selfless as Blue; who would risk her life over and over for those who couldn’t defend themselves.

 _Vault Dweller versus the Commonwealth? Hmm…nah, sounds cheesy,_ Piper thought, chewing on her next mouthful of noodles. Somewhat paying attention to the conversation between Nat and Blue.

“So, you like tinkering out with parts and stuff?” Nat asked.

Blue nodded, taking a sip of her coffee. “I studied engineering back in my time, fixed up a lot of stuff. I enjoyed it since it keeps me occupied and focus on one thing: fix it and get it in proper working order again.”

Piper smiled behind her cup of her coffee before taking a small gulp. The one time she witnessed Blue ‘tinkering’ was when she had dismantled her assault rifle and cleaned up the bits and parts of it. After she was satisfied the parts were properly cleaned, it was almost mesmerizing watching Blue put a gun back together.

 _Real handy with her fingers—wait, no, brain, don’t think of it_ that _way,_ Piper berated herself internally.

“Awesome, cause’ Piper would really like to interview you about your life in the Vault.”  

The statement jostled Piper out of her daze. She frowned at her little sister, opening her lips to ready and berate her for—revealing? Exposing her?—however; Blue stopped her by reaching over and squeezing her shoulder gently.

Blue flashed a reassuring smirk before turning her attention back toward Nat. “How about this, kiddo: I do _owe_ your sister a story. So, you can be right there with us for the interview and if you have any questions, just feel free to ask, hm?”

 Piper was silent for a moment. The masses were practically telling her to get on with the interview and grab her story. Yet, Blue was beyond being just a story, she was…

_Your first, actual friend in a long time? Someone who doesn’t view you a nosy snoop? Someone around your actual age that you can talk at ease with?_

Yeah, Blue is a _friend_ and she didn’t want to lose such a friendship.

Nat grinned. “Sounds like a good deal, lady—”

“Natalie…” Piper chastised. She really needed to talk to her little sister about referring to people as “lady” or “mister,” when she _knew_ their names in the first place.  

The rest of their lunch time went on normally. Albeit Nat didn’t stop questioning Blue, but most of her inquiries were about all the “crazies” she must’ve encountered as she scoured the Commonwealth. Every time the younger girl tried to subtly ask about her trip to Fort Hagen, Blue would just smirk and answer vaguely with: “I just needed a good hike.”

Piper hadn’t exactly gotten a chance to travel with Blue yet, considering the fact the woman disappeared off to Fort Hagen for several days before coming back only to be in a slump. Although, from what she heard from Nick, Jayd was an unstoppable force once her mind was set on something. What that “something” was, Piper has yet to figure out. However, Blue was a nice enough gal to talk if she wasn't suffering from a hangover or deep in her thoughts. Just as they were heading back to the Publick Occurences, the vault dweller stepped a bit closer to Piper and ducked her head slightly.

“Listen, I know I owe you that interview,” Blue said, low and quiet, as if not wanting Nat to hear about what she was about to say. “But I may or may not have entangled myself into being someone’s bodyguard later today.”

Piper quirked a brow at Blue. “Really?”

“You may know him. Paul Pembroke? Short, stocky guy who always looks like someone kicked his puppy or something,” Blue sighed softly. “He asked me to look intimidating to the owner of the Colonial Taphouse. I was barely awake at the time and I ended up agreeing to his ridiculous request just so he would leave.”

Piper wasn’t surprised someone would approach Blue for a “merc’ type” job. The vault dweller was amongst the rarest of people in the Commonwealth who dared venture further into the Commonwealth and face the dangers head on. Most of the locals in Diamond City have barely left the city walls behind them or even stepped foot into Boston Commons.   

“Bodyguard, huh?” Piper chuckled softly. “You _do_ give off that impression.”

Jayd rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. “Anyways, I was hoping you’d be willing to come along with me. I have a feeling Mr. Pembroke isn’t just going to ‘talk’ to his wife’s paramour.”

“Miss out on the opportunity to bug the folks from the Upper Stands?” Piper smirked. She could sense another story coming out of this. “Count me in, Blue.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was gonna be one big story in one go, but I decided to break it into two parts instead. Thank you for reading, folks!
> 
> P.S. Also added a little twist to the story. Piper does not know - yet - that Jayd is from the Pre-War world.   
> P.S.S. This story takes places a month or so after "First Impression." 
> 
> Enjoy!


	3. Freedom

She stood before the large window, overlooking the main lobby below. White, pristine, and untouched from any radiation contamination. Then again, they were underground, miles beneath the surface, and built to sustain life much like a rare, few Vaults were designed to be. If one were to squint hard enough, they’d miss the tell-tale signs of laser scorch marks and bullet holes here and there. Oh, and the variety of human and synth corpses splayed about.

_“It’s hard to believe I’m related to you.”_

Jayd didn’t turn to face the speaker of those words that oozed with barely-withheld animosity. She didn’t bother to and she couldn’t blame them. If she were laying on her death bed, watching helplessly as her entire life’s work was falling into ruins, she’d hate the cause of the destruction with every hateful bone in her body.

In this case, Jayd _is_ the demise of the Commonwealth’s resident boogieman: The Institute.

A short, humorless chuckle escaped her lips, brushing her fingers through her hair. What else could be said? She had the chosen her side and it was with humanity. Flaws and all.

“I live and breath to break expectations,” Jayd glanced over her shoulder, watching as Father sneered at her. “After all, isn’t that what you wondered about if you let me loose?”

“Are you simply here to _gloat?_ ”

A good question and she took the moment to formulate a proper response to it.

“No, I’m here to say goodbye.”

Truthfully, it was done months ago. The moment she had learned that the elderly man she first met upon entering the Institute was _the_ Shaun she had been searching for. The “child” she saw in Kellogg’s memories was nothing more than a synth double. At that moment, she had been asleep for almost three centuries, two hundred and sixty years to be specific.

Shaun stopped being _Shaun_ the moment he was taken away by the Institute.

Father scoffed weakly. “Say your _empty_ , pitying words. You’ve shown your true colors.”

It should’ve stung that a relative of her family was simply dismissing her. Surprisingly, Jayd felt nothing as she returned her gaze forward. The gun fights and explosions had ceased and peeking down below, she could see groups of Railroad agents and Minutemen soldiers gathered about. She could hear their muffled cheers of victory.

Jayd exhaled out a breath. They’ve _won,_ and she hoped a certain red-leathered reporter was waiting for her at the end.

Digging into her left pocket, she pulled out a rosary that had belonged to her and Nora’s mother. The cherry wood rosary had seen better days, but it still held together despite some chipped pieces here and there. Her mother had given it to her before she was shipped off on her last tour. The rosary had seen her mother through the harshest of times during her era and she hoped it would protect her from the dangers of war.

By some divine miracle, it _did_ , or she was just that lucky. She was living and surviving in a post-nuclear apocalypse, after all.

Jayd grasped one of the beads and wrapped it around her hand until the small, wooden cross was hanging inches beneath it. She wasn’t religious, not like her mother, yet she had found some comfort in prayer from time to time during her tour.

“I pray that my sister will forgive me for not saving you,” Jayd began. “For letting you be raised by monsters. I hope she’ll someday forgive me for letting you die like this, for letting her watch as I fight against you and this organization’s inhumane ideals.”

She turned to face him, watching as he stared at her with those deep, blue eyes, dazed. _His life was slowly fading…_

“I pray that one day you’ll forgive me, _Shaun._ ”

Jayd stood there as every minute ticked by, as the light in Father’s eyes was faded into empty dullness. He let out one last breath and then silence. Nothing but silence and the soft hum of fluorescent lights amongst the ceiling.

After gathering her wits about her, she approached the bed and brushed her hand over his eyes, closing them. She  _truly_ looked at him this time, as he lay on the clean, white pristine bed. He was tucked gently with a simple, white bedsheet. A fleeting moment brushed by on the back of her mind, wondering who had settled Father in his personal quarters. Was it one of the members of the Board? A synth servant? One of their esteemed doctor-scientist?

_Does he have a successor?_

The soldier in her thought about the possibility that someone else, some _where_ else would be continuing Father’s work, and her plan on simply overtaking the underground fortress was all for naught. She had scoured every folder in his terminal and saw no clue nor message of a successor.

_Then again, the Institute can be crafty and sneaky._

Jayd buried that paranoid side of her. It was an unnecessary worry, but some part of her couldn’t shake it off. Whether it held some ground of truth or not, it’ll have to wait. Another war for another time. She raised her left arm and the Pip-Boy’s screen flickered on upon the motion. A small radio signal was blinking from the top left corner of the screen, indicating there was a new radio signal within capture distance of her Pip-Boy. Turning the knob, Jayd switched over to the radio screen. The new signal had the name: _Earth to Blue._

A small smile crept at one corner of her lips. There was only one person in the world who would call her that nickname. _Piper_. Twisting the knob until it highlighted the name, she then pressed the button atop the knob, tuning to the radio signal.

Everything else was tuned as she focused solely on one, familiar voice.

 _“Hello? Hello? Is this thing…oh, it’s working, great!”_ Piper’s voice came out loud and clear. _“Hey Blue! Just…dropping a message or, well, a radio transmission. Hope you really get this, or else I’d feel like an idiot talking into this HAM radio.”_

Jayd chuckled softly at that.

 _“_ Anyways, _we’ve evacuated everybody. We’re just waiting for any sign from you that everything’s peachy and you know…ugh, you better be alive, dammit.”_

There would time to mourn, to stew over her choices, and the blood she had spilled, organic and inorganic. Either way, she had someone waiting for her on the other end. Jayd didn’t bother responding to the transmission, as she let the Pip-Boy scan where the signal was coming from. Once it locked onto the radio signal’s location, Jayd teleported herself there.

The Institute was gone. Her ties to the past, her _Pre-War_ world, gone. She was finally free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Been a while, enjoy!

**Author's Note:**

> Been a while since I posted. Finally got the inspiration back. Hope you guys enjoy!


End file.
